Activities in Europe & North America

2007:Main transformations, challenges and emerging patterns in Higher Education Systems, 5-6 March 2007 UNESCO, Paris The Regional Scientific Committee for Europe and North America chose to focus its second Research Seminar on Globalizing Knowledge: European and North American Regions and Policies addressing the priority issues of other UNESCO Regions. The objective of the Seminar was to discuss the main transformations, challenges and emerging patterns in Higher Education systems today, by providing an overview of the main issues faced by the sector in the ENA and OECD countries for consideration in other regions. Issues such as massification and diversification, integration and public steering, funding, the social mission of higher education, international student mobility, universities and globalization, institutional organization and governance, and accreditation trends were addressed by the presenters. It is expected that these papers will contribute to the ongoing policy dialogue amongst other Forum Committees. Papers from the Seminar 2006: Workshop on the Changing Role of the Academic Professions 5-6 September 2006 Kassel, Germany The University of Kassel hosted the event, from 5 to 6 September 2006, in Kassel, Germany. The workshop addressed the most crucial changes the academic profession is currently undergoing in the economically advanced societies, with particular focus on a certainly most fundamental change, i.e. the interface between the academic profession and the institutional leadership in higher education. Some of the papers presented will be gathered in a review, shortly available. 2004: Managerialism and Evaluation in Higher Education 4 November 2004 UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France The First Regional Research Seminar organized by the UNESCO Forum Regional Scientific Committee for Europe & North America focused on “Managerialism and Evaluation in Higher Education”. It was directed towards assessing the assumptions that higher education systems and institutions have moved from collegially led structures to those in which management, reinforced by outcome-focused evaluation, has assumed the leadership function. Discussions also focused on the impact of ongoing changes in the context of higher education management with regard to academic values, modes of working, as well as on research. 32 participants attended the meeting. The papers presented are published as UNESCO Forum Occasional Papers.